In Seattle, President Obama HighlightsImportance of U.S. Exports for U.S. Jobs

February 17, 2012 -- In Seattle today, U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted the important role that exports play in promoting economic growth and jobs in the United States. In a speech at Boeing, the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners, Obama noted, "I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products."

Sales of U.S. goods and services overseas are key to the President's National Export Initiative (NEI), which calls for a doubling of U.S. exports to $3.14 trillion by the year 2015 in order to create an additional two million jobs. In his January 2012 State of the Union address, President Obama said, "I issued a challenge to America's business leaders: ask what you can do to create jobs here in your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed." He complimented Boeing, where "business is booming," as an example of a U.S. company that is generating jobs in the USA. "Last year, orders for commercial aircraft rose by more than 50 percent," Obama said, and "to meet that demand, you hired 13,000 workers all across America."

Sales of commercial aircraft, one of America's top exports, play an important role in supporting the National Export Initiative. Boeing exported more than $34 billion in manufactured goods in 2011, an increase of more than 45 percent since 2006. Many of these airliners went to the Arab world which, according to Boeing, will need 2,520 additional airplanes -- valued at $450 billion -- by the year 2030. Boeing research suggests that the region's fleet of passenger planes will climb 160 percent by 2030, and about one-third of this demand will be for new jets to replace older models.

In a related development, David Hamod, President & CEO of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC), conducted a half-hour interview today on Al-Hurra, an Arab world television station that is funded in part by the U.S. Government. Hamod highlighted the important role of commercial jetliner sales to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, pointing out that regional airlines like Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways are now responsible for some of the biggest purchases of Boeing aircraft anywhere in the world. He also pointed out the significant growth in the region of private entities, including aviation leasing companies and low-cost carriers, which are generating additional business for U.S. firms.

Riding on the strength of commercial and military aircraft sales, Hamod noted, the largest category of U.S. goods exported to the Arab world in 2011 was Transportation Equipment, accounting for $17.58 billion in sales -- representing 31.3 percent of total U.S. goods exported to the Arab world last year. NUSACC announced this week that U.S. merchandise exports to the Arab world increased from $48.77 billion in 2010 to $56.18 billion in 2011, an increase of 15.2 percent and the highest single-year sales volume ever.

The 2011 data are consistent with the Chamber's research that shows U.S. exports of goods and services to the Arab world will grow to $117 billion by the end of next year.

Importing countries of the Arab world were led by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which together accounted for more than half of all U.S. merchandise exports to the Arab world (52.9 percent). Egypt retained its position as the third largest Arab market for U.S. goods, despite a drop in sales of nearly 10 percent, probably attributable to unrest in that nation. Morocco moved up to the #4 position, presumably on the strength of the Morocco-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and Qatar and Kuwait filled out the top half-dozen importing nations. It is worth noting that Iraq, from which U.S. troops withdrew in 2011, grew to $2.43 billion in U.S. export sales, representing a surge of nearly half again as many exports as in 2010 (i.e.- an increase of 48.1 percent).​NUSACC's David Hamod concluded, "Applying NEI metrics, U.S. goods and services to the Arab world are on track to create or sustain 340,000 direct and 683,000 indirect American jobs by the end of next year. Commercial airliners will make up an important part of these sales, as suggested by President Obama's visit to Seattle today. At a time when all Americans are looking for economic growth, our nation's exports to the Arab world stand to play an increasingly significant role in generating U.S. jobs and a higher quality of life here at home."